In John 17:1-5 Jesus is praying to the father and it reads like this:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”
Jesus said, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” It was explicitly clear to Jesus why he came to earth. When you know what you are called to do your chances of succeeding are far better than if you don’t know what you are supposed to do. We know that we will be held accountable for what we do in this life. There is accountability because there is responsibility.
In the parable of the ten minas the master gathers his ten servants and gives them each money and says, “Put this money to work until I get back”. The servants were given the ability and responsibility to create increase. When the master returned he gathered his servants to see what they had gained with it. The two servants that gained increased where rewarded while the wicked and lazy servant was punished.
Let’s look at it like this. I have a pressure washing business and my goal is to have the business succeed. We have a cleaning process to clean a house and this process guarantees our success on a job. Let’s say my goal is to expand my business so I hire an employee. Is it to my benefit to train this employee or should I just let him wing it? Obviously I would train the employee. It is not only to my benefit, but the benefit of the employee and the customer that this employee is well trained in our process. It doesn’t do me any good to keep my employee in the dark on what I need him to do. But this is what a lot of people teach about this life in God. If I keep my employee in the dark I set myself, this employee and the customer up to fail. In this scenario when the employee fails it is not his fault, it is my fault.
This idea that God keeps us in the dark is based off of the assumption that God is a bad master, and that just couldn’t be any more opposite. God sets us up to succeed because he is a God of function not malfunction. The kingdom of darkness thrives on ignorance, while the kingdom of light reigns through knowledge.